My Life

Hi, I'm Dasha Elin Zerboni. I was born in America. Now, let me tell you a little about my life.

I was born in April 2005.  When I was a baby, the first thing I saw was my mom and dad smiling at me. It made me laugh.  But, not really. I couldn't.  Then, I tried to look at my mouth to see what was wrong. But, my chin didn't go down that far. I tried to stand up, so I could yell, "I'm born, I'm born!" But, I couldn't. My arms and legs weren't sturdy and strong.  I tried to talk, but all that came out was a little cloud. I looked at that cloud. And, it disappeared. Then, my mom hugged me and so did my dad. "Who are these people?" I thought. Until they took me home. We played and played and played. It was the best thing in my whole life. At least, I thought.

As I grew older, things changed. I was able to talk and stand up and walk. I was able to do all sorts of things, such as gymnastics, swimming and violin.  Violin seemed hard at first. But, then I practiced more. Now I can play Bach's "Ave Maria." I love violin!

Now, I'm seven years old. My favorite color is green, not brown. My baby brother was born. He's four, almost five. He can walk and talk and do violin too. But, he's still working on gymnastics and swimming. We like to play cars and make towns in his room. And, do front rolls and back rolls and cartwheels in the hallway. Our favorite game is Horseopoly. It's like Monopoly, but you buy horses instead. At a higher price. 

One of the hardest things in my life was teaching my brother math, and moving to a new house. I also learned how to deal with fragile things, like stuff made out of clay and glass. And, other fragile materials.

I love reading. It's my favorite subject in school. But, PE is catching up.

I'm going into second grade now. It's SO exciting. Some things bum me out, like having my best friends in a different class, meeting new kids and having to make new friends. And, I'm always thinking about what will happen next. It makes it harder to focus on my work.  But some things make me excited, such as getting a new backpack, moving up a level in reading, and, well, making new friends. 

I hope you go through those changes too. It's pretty fun and interesting.  It's tough to live a good long life, but if you work hard at it, you'll get good at it. And, it'll be easy as pie.

I'll keep you posted on how things go for me.

The end.

Kaya Meets Tito

Once upon a time, there was a Native American girl named, Kaya. She had a horse named Stepshigh, which was an Appaloosa mustang.

Kaya was nine years old so she was old enough to work like other Native American kids.  One day when she was sewing bear claws on a buckskin dress, Stepshigh whinnied.  Then, Kaya remembered when her mom got captured by enemy raiders. Now that was really scary. Toeta, her father, was now her only parent.
She liked visiting her grandparents a lot. Her grandmother, Katsa, told great stories. Especially, about her visions.

"Toeta," said Kaya. "Can Stepshigh and I go to New Mexico? I'd like to see my friend Josephina." "OK," said Toeta, "but be sure to pack a tee-pee, food and clothes with you. And bring Stepshigh. He can carry those things. You can carry your violin, your math workbooks and a pencil."  "OK,"said Kaya. "Maybe while I'm there, I'll buy some clothes," she said. "And trade some hides for beads," she added.

So, the very next day, Kaya packed a tee-pee, clothes, luggage, and packed them up on Stepshigh. Before she left, she said "Good-bye" to Toeta, Katsa, and the twins, Sparrow and Wingfeather. Then, she and Stepshigh took off.

Stepshigh ran easily with the load. On Kaya's back was a little green backpack with her violin and workbooks, and extra pencils, and a little mini sharpener, just in case the pencils broke. Around her waist was a basket with blueberries. She could pick more when she got there.

Finally, she reached a hotel. "This would be a nice place to stay." But, beside the hotel was a forest. "I remember, I have a tee-pee" she said. So, instead of going into the hotel for a room, she went into the forest and set up her tee-pee. It was very hard. It kept collapsing. So, she and Stepshigh went in to little cabins that she made out of chopped trees.

A monkey came along. He said, "You seem like you need a little help putting up a tee-pee." "Sure," said Kaya. "I'll pay you back somehow."  So the monkey easily put up the tee-pee. "How did you do that so quickly?" said Kaya. "It's a little secret - I've been taking classes and practicing for years. I can put up a tent, so how much different can a tee-pee be? They both start with "t". And, tee-pees are just tents for Native Americans."

Soon a big clomping noise occurred. "Oh-No, the Sheriff," said the monkey. "You see, I'm a slave, and I work for the McDaolls."  "Don't worry, I'll help you get away," said Kaya.  "You can hide in the trees above my tee-pee.  I'll give you an Yuka root hide. You can cover it over your body.  I'll take my bow and arrows and shoot them at the sheriff. That will pay him back for capturing you as a slave. You're nice. You can live with me instead."  "Thanks," said the monkey, "First, tell me your name."  "My name's Kaya, and this is my horse, Stepshigh, and my dog, Tatlo," said Kaya.  "My name is Tito," said the monkey.   "Great, Tito. Now hide. He's coming closer; I can see his face." she said.

"Wait, that's my dad," said Kaya. "Your dad's the sheriff?" said Tito.  "I'll tell him not to kidnap you," said Kaya.  So Tito was freed and got to live with Kaya as her third pet.

"Thanks again," said Tito.

The End.